Free-Range Drama Farm

The second one of our big goals for the coming year is to create an education plan for the Drama Farm.  What exactly do we mean by that?  Well, I’m not entirely sure…

We’ve got lots of ideas for the educational principles behind the farm:  students learning in an informal environment; letting them loose to do their work and seek help as they need it.  But, I know there are a lot of ways we can facilitate that learning - “Free-Range” doesn’t necessarily mean “Free-For-All”!

I’ve got a few specific ideas for ways to guide the students’ educations while they’re at the farm.  We could have single-day workshops and seminars on various topics, taught by the staff advisors and/or other professionals in the community. We could do an informal round-table discussion (maybe over pizza one night a week?) where the students could talk with each other and the advisors about topics of their choosing. We could even give the students the opportunity to teach workshops for each other if they’re interested. There are a million possibilities out there - these are just a few.

The question is, how to we take all of these ideas and put them together into something cohesive? I hesitate to call it a “curriculum”, since that brings up images of formal education with lesson plans and such; I think what we want is more like a roadmap - something to plan out where we’re going and what we’re doing along the way, but not necessarily exactly how we’re going to get there.

Does any of this make sense? I don’t really have the knowledge to talk about education plans and philosophies in vocabulary that other people use - but I know that some of you do! Want to help us mold all of these loosely-related thoughts and ideas into a real education plan? Leave a comment below - we could really use the help!

So, the first one of our Goals for 2008 is to set up the company’s structure. Ultimately, the goal is to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, so that we - and our contributers - get all of the benefits associated with tax-exempt status.

The question is, when and how do we want to make that happen? Filing for tax-exemption is a lengthy and expensive process, and it’s not necessarily something that we need to do right now. Also, because we ultimately want to fund the program with an endowment rather than donations from the public, there may be other legal structures that would work better for our needs than just becoming a 501(c)(3) ourselves.

From the research I’ve done so far, it seems as though we have three viable options:

1. Get fiscal sponsorship with a company like Fractured Atlas, which would give us the benefits of a nonprofit without the hassle of incorporating immediately. I know a lot of small organizations take this route - sometimes indefinitely - and it might be a good way for us to start out. That way we could start operating as a nonprofit while we continue looking into exactly what kind of company structure we need.
2. Incorporate and apply for tax-exempt status now, so that we can start fundraising for ourselves. This is the most common route, but we’re not exactly the most common organization. From what I’ve read, it sounds as though you have to receive a certain percentage of your funding each year from public donations, in order to maintain tax-exempt status. If we’re planning on ultimately getting all of our funding from an endowment, I’m not sure if that qualifies as “public donations.” Any nonprofit lawyers out there who could help with this?
3. Set up a separate organization to raise money, which would then be granted to the Drama Farm organization. I don’t know a lot about this option yet, but I know a lot of educational institutions have a similar setup, so we need to find out why, and whether it would be appropriate for our purposes. I’ve got a few leads on this one, but if you know anyone with experience in this sort of thing, please send ‘em my way!

So that’s where we stand with Goal #1. We’re continuing to research and talk to our contacts about what our options are, but if you or someone you know has any insight into this, please let us know! Also, if you’d like to be more involved in helping us figure this stuff out, we’d love to have your help. Just leave a comment below, or drop us an email - we want to hear from you!

So, now that we’ve got a whole year to plot and scheme before we actually do anything, we’ve got a few things that we’d really like to accomplish, in order to be ready to roll once we’re settled in Pittsburgh. Here’s what we want to do:

1. Set up the company’s structure. Ultimately, we’ll want the Drama Farm to be a tax-exempt nonprofit organization - that way any contributions our supporters make will be tax-deductible, we’ll be eligible for more grant funding, and we’ll get all the other benefits associated with nonprofit status. The question is: do we need/want to set that up now, or would it be better to wait? And when we do get it set up, what kind of nonprofit structure do we need?
2. Create an education plan. We’ve got a lot of ideas about the direction we want the Farm to go in, and things we want to work on with the students, but we really don’t know anything about coming up with a real plan for what we’re doing. The idea behind the Drama Farm is very much a free-form education model, but I’d like to work with someone with a real background in education, to come up with a formal plan for how the program will work. Ideas are great, but the more thought and planning we put into it, the better the students’ experiences will be.
3. Create a fundraising plan. Once we get ourselves settled in Pittsburgh, we’re going to want to start doing things - which means we’re going to need some money. Should we do some fundraising this year? Should we wait until we get to Pittsburgh and do a big fundraising push there? And what sort of fundraising should we do?

I know you talented people out there could be a huge help with some of this - some of you have already expressed an interest in helping, which we’re incredibly grateful for! I’ll write more on each of these goals - what we’ve found out so far, what our thoughts are, etc. - through the coming week, but if you see something you’re interested in helping with, jump right in! Leave a comment or drop me an email - your expertise would be greatly appreciated!

Derrick Kwa has been an enthusiastic supporter of the Drama Farm since we first met several months ago, and last week he asked me to do an email interview about the Farm and the educational ideas behind it.

You can check out the interview over here on his blog. While you’re there, read some of his other posts - he’s got some great insight into improving the education system.

Thanks for the interview, Derrick!

Hello! Sorry I’ve been away for so long - there have been some Big Changes in the works here in Drama Farm Land, and I didn’t want to say anything here until we’d told a few key people in person…

You may remember that at the end of last year we were excited about the possibility of finding the Drama Farm a home of its own. We had hoped to be able to buy or rent the property housing the Red Barn Theatre (just outside of Pittsburgh, PA) from its owners, allowing the Red Barn to continue to operate during the summers while we used the space for our programs through the rest of the year. Sadly, the property was sold to developers the day after the Red Barn closed its 2007 season, so that’s no longer a possibility.

As we considered the ramifications of moving the project to the Red Barn, though, it became clearer and clearer that Pittsburgh would be a much more ideal place to get the Farm up and running - with or without the Red Barn as a venue. After much discussion, we’ve decided to transplant the whole operation to Pittsburgh and set up shop there. It’ll be about a year before we’re fully moved and prepared to get things rolling again, so the pilot program will remain on hold until the spring of 2009.

That’s not to say that we won’t be working, though - we’ve now got a whole year to do nothing but research and plan, so we can jump right in once we’re settled in the ‘Burgh. I’ve got several goals for the coming year, and I’m going to need your help to achieve them - but that’s for another post.

For now, thanks for your continued support, and stay tuned - we’ll have lots more to talk about soon!